Tuesday, November 29, 2011

UN Secretary General: Palestinians Ready for Statehood

NEW YORK, November 29, 2011 (WAFA) – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday said that the Palestinian Authority is ready to assume responsibilities of statehood.

In a statement marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and 64 years since the UN General Assembly had adopted resolution 181 proposing the partition of Palestine into two states – one Arab and the other Jewish, Ban said that “the establishment of a Palestinian State, living in peace next to a secure Israel, is long overdue.”

He said that “the need to resolve this conflict has taken on greater urgency with the historic transformations taking place across the region.”

The UN Secretary General called on the Palestinian and Israeli leadership “to show courage and determination to seek an agreement for a two-State solution that can open up a brighter future for Palestinian and Israeli children.”

He said that “such a solution must end the occupation that began in 1967, and meet legitimate security concerns. Jerusalem must emerge from negotiations as the capital of two States, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all. And a just and agreed solution must be found for millions of Palestinian refugees scattered around the region.”

Ban said, “While there are many challenges to this goal, let me stress an important, indeed historic, achievement of the Palestinian Authority during the past year. The Palestinian Authority is now institutionally ready to assume the responsibilities of statehood, if a Palestinian state were created. This was affirmed by a wide range of members of the international community at the meeting of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee in September. I commend President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on this remarkable success. These efforts should continue and be supported.”

He added, “In this regard, the current suspension by Israel of customs and tax transfers owed to the Palestinian Authority risks undermining these gains. These revenues must be transferred without delay.”